The bodies of two workers who disappeared in the water after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, hit by a merchant ship, around 1.30am (6.30am in Italy) on Tuesday morning have been recovered. A spokesman for the Maryland State Police said that in the morning divers located a red pickup truck about 7 meters underground and found the bodies of two victims trapped in the vehicle. The two were identified as a 35-year-old Mexican worker and a 26-year-old Guatemalan worker. The official toll reports that six workers disappeared after the collapse of the bridge and were considered dead.
Laws – The heroes of Baltimore: this is how the workers blocked traffic, avoiding a massacre
Coast Guard: the vessel had undergone engine maintenance
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into the Key Bridge had previously undergone “routine engine maintenance” at the Port of Baltimore facilities. This was reported by Admiral Shannon Gilreath of the US Coast Guard during a press conference. Authorities had been informed that the vessel would undergo maintenance, he said, adding that there had been no reports of any problems.
Damage could reach 4 billion
The damages to be paid for the accident on the Baltimore bridge could amount to up to 4 billion: some media report this, citing the estimates of some experts in the sector. “Depending on the length of the blockage and the nature of business interruption coverage at the Port of Baltimore, insured losses could amount to between $2 billion and $4 billion,” said Marcos Alvarez, managing director for Global Insurance Ratings at Morningstar Dbrs. This figure, he added, would surpass the record for insured losses from the Costa Concordia luxury cruise ship disaster in 2012.
Baltimore, here's what remains of the Key Bridge: a ramp overlooking the void
The research
Mega fragments of steel collapsed on the dark and frozen waters of the Patapsco River, a cargo ship motionless under the weight of hundreds of containers and the corpses of six workers killed while working the night shift. After the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, while the search continues for the missing, almost certainly dead, the damage is also beginning to be counted in terms of reconstruction but also the impact that the paralysis of such a strategic commercial hub could have globally.
Biden administration assures: “We will do everything to reopen the port as soon as possible”
The Biden administration “he will do everything to reopen the port as soon as possible”, assured Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, implying that it will take “years to rebuild the bridge and months to reopen the canal”. “Reconstruction will be neither quick, nor easy, nor cheap, but we will get it done,” he guaranteed in a press briefing at the White House. The secretary did not comment on the costs but, according to experts, there is a risk of spending ten times the over 60 million dollars invested to build it in the 1970s.
The president assured that the federal government will cover all expenses and asked Congress to support the operation by passing the infrastructure law. Not to mention the consequences of the closure of one of the most important hubs in the United States which will cause losses equivalent to 15 million dollars a day. “Depending on the length of the blockage and the nature of business interruption coverage at the Port of Baltimore, insured losses could amount to between $2 billion and $4 billion,” said Marcos Alvarez, managing director for Global Insurance Ratings at Morningstar Dbrs. A figure that would surpass the record of insured losses from the disaster of the luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia in 2012.
Baltimore, the ship crashes into the Key Bridge: the bridge collapses and the cars end up in the water
The suspicion that some containers contained dangerous material
As for the suspicion that there was dangerous material in some containers, US Coast Guard deputy commander Peter Gautier ruled it out. “There is no danger to the population”, assured the vice admiral, explaining that “the containers from the Dali ship that ended up in the water after the impact with the Baltimore bridge do not contain dangerous materials”. An elite Coast Guard team is however examining thirteen damaged containers, some of which “contained materials for the Centers for Disease Control and hazardous materials” according to an informal communication from the Federal Agency for Cybersecurity and Infrastructure of which the CNN he saw it. According to the note, the possible leakage of over “6 million liters of diesel” is also being assessed.
The victims
Meanwhile, details are beginning to emerge about the victims, all of Central and South American origin. They are a citizen of El Salvador and one of Honduras, fathers of three and two children respectively and both in the United States for at least 20 years, two Guatemalans and two Mexicans. One of the two survivors is also Mexican. «Workers who worked a night shift, while most of us were sleeping», underlined Buttigieg while the president of Mexico Andrés Manuel López Obrador wanted to remember the contribution of migrant workers to the American economy. “They do risky jobs in the middle of the night and for this reason they don't deserve to be treated in a certain way by insensitive and irresponsible politicians,” he attacked with a clear reference to Donald Trump.
The investigations
On the investigation front, however, investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recovered the black box of the cargo and began to interview the crew members. What is certain is that shortly before the crash the ship went into a “total blackout”, now we need to understand why.
#Bridge #collapse #Baltimore #bodies #workers #recovered #Damage #reach #billion